The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

Overview

Is life worth living? This question, the title of one of William James’ essays, is one James himself struggled with in his life and work. Trained as a doctor, James never practiced medicine. Perhaps due to his own struggles with depression and melancholy, he was drawn to philosophy and psychology. That interest turned into a serious academic career. Known as the father of American psychology, James is the founder of functional psychology and cofounder of the James-Lange Theory of Emotion. He also wrote an important work on the psychology of religious experience. James’ philosophical work forms some of the seminal thinking on pragmatism—the belief that usefulness, not truth, should be the focus of philosophical ideas.

In The Varieties of Religious Experience, James offers a psychological account of personal religious experiences across the major world religions. Defining personal religion as the feelings, acts, and experiences of individuals in relationship to the divine, James develops a taxonomy of various experiences. He makes comparisons, noting similarities and differences between particular religious figures (e.g., Ignatius Loyola and William Booth). He also examines specific types of religious experiences, such as prayer or mystical visions. He seeks to give a psychological account of these various experiences, while not attempting to question their validity. He also looks at the psychological benefits of things like prayer.

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Key Features

Examines what personal religion consists of

Addresses religion, and religious experiences from a purely psychological standpoint

About William James

William James (1842–1910) was born at the Astor House in New York City. His father, Henry James Sr., was a Swedenborgian theologian. His godfather was poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. James studied science at Harvard University and enrolled in Harvard Medical School, earning an MD in 1869. In 1878, he married Alice Gibbens, and in 1882, he became a member of the theosophical society. James suffered various forms of depression throughout his life. Though he studied medicine, he was drawn to philosophy and psychology. He began writing on these subjects and eventually began teaching at Harvard. He held professorships of both philosophy and psychology, ending his career as emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907. Medical historians consider him the 14th most eminent psychologist of the twentieth century.